Ever since a bear wandered through our campsite in British Columbia, we’ve kept Banjo on a short leash and almost never on the tie-out line that gives her free rein of the campsite.
We’ve been on the lookout all the way north for bear, foxes, moose, who knows what, because wild animals do like to wander through campgrounds.
Just last night, Carl told us about a baby moose he’d seen in a campground pit toilet. No joke. (Credit: Karl Akers on his iphone)
Denali Highway
After we left Denali National Park, we headed south towards Anchorage then east on the Denali Highway.
This dirt road, that used to be the only route to the park, runs south of the Alaska Range, along a marshy valley that’s prime moose territory. See that pair at the pond in the pic above?
I’ve seen five moose so far (you bet ya I’m counting) but I’ve not gotten good pictures until now. I am in love with moose and am absurdly pleased with those pictures.
The Denali Highway goes through BLM land, so you can park on any of the pull-offs along it. We made camp not as far from the road as we’d like (the longer pull-offs are too rutted for us, from ATV use) but our views can’t be beat.
We’ve been trying to identify three glaciers we can see from the campsite and know only one mountain for sure, Mount Hayes.
It’s one of the largest in the U.S. in terms of rise compared to surrounding mountains. I’m spending a lot of time staring at mountains and looking at maps and learning how people talk about them. Not that you can tell here! My photos don’t do any of these views justice.
A small pond across the highway is home to a beaver, who wisely scrams when Banjo visits.
We’re taking her for walks on the long leash here several times a day. And she is loving it, cracker dogging every time we set out, going as far into the pond as she can get. (Banjo prefers to dip but not swim.)
The ATV trails that moose and caribou hunters use here in the fall makes for great dog-walking.
In our relief that we can see large animals before they get up close, we forgot about the danger of small animals. Tracy rushed Banjo inside one evening, shouting “Porcupine!” By the time I got out there, the porcupine had wandered away. Banjo is decidedly anti-porcupine, whereas I am pro.
The Wildlife Says, “Hold My Beer”
After I wrote this post, Tracy saw two wolves while walking Banjo before bed. Two wolves!
These pictures are from his phone as he was scurrying Banjo away, but maybe I’ll see them one evening with my camera! We have two more nights here.
Love the view with your Airstream in the foreground! Glad you are getting those!
It’s hard to remember to take photos of anything but mountains! A friend took a shot like this when we were walking by the trailer and I asked (I didn’t have my phone), but I believe I took this one. I used the friend’s as a new banner image on the blog though – what a cool angle!